Years of struggles after signing a bloated contract made Barry Zito the brunt of many a joke, but 2012 revived Zito's career and perhaps saved his legacy. He ended the season with 15 wins and held the rotation together when Lincecum struggled.

Years of struggles after signing a bloated contract made Barry Zito the brunt of many a joke, but 2012 revived Zito's career and perhaps saved his legacy. He ended the season with 15 wins and held the rotation

San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito has filed lawsuits claiming that a friend tricked him into investing $3 million in a fitness-software venture that went nowhere.

Through his company Barry Zito Enterprises, Zito, who is the final season of a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Giants, filed two lawsuits in Ventura County Superior Court this month, claiming he was duped into investing $3 million in a startup company called dotFIT that promoters said was raising $20 million in equity.

The company was trying to market a software program touting holistic health and fitness to health clubs worldwide.

But dotFIT didn't do the 34-year-old left-hander right, Zito says, because it later claimed it hadn't sought to raise $20 million. Instead, the company used his $3 million to pay high salaries and bonuses to employees, according to Zito.

The suits name dotFIT LLC, several other companies, Zito's friend Michael Clark, fitness expert Neal Spruce and bodybuilder Odd Haugen. The defendants have not responded to the lawsuits in court.

Zito is asking for $3 million in damages for breach of contract and fraud, among other claims.

According to dotFIT's website, the company is a "complete nutrition and exercise resource for both consumers and the fitness industry." Spruce and Haugen are listed as the company's "executive leadership team."

In 2011, dotFIT was sold to ShareCare, an online health question-and-answer platform created by WebMD founder Jeffrey Arnold and celebrity physician Dr. Mehmet Oz. Neither is being sued by Zito.

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